Bonking, Bears, Bikini's, and The Beach

The heat continues here in the SoCal desert with temps near 100 almost every day. Last weekend I was really put to the test on a training ride that I bonked twice on in the heat. I got over the first mountain climb just fine but the third climb up to the summit of Breckenridge from the backside saw my power meter dropping with almost every switchback up the 11 mile climb to nearly 7,000'. The only saving grace was that the higher I got the cooler the temps were.

The heat is on!

The first day of summer and the heat is on here in the desert!  Yesterday I did the hottest ride of my life starting in the valley where it was 110 degrees.  I've been riding in the heat all week so it didn't really bother me at first, especially since I was going up Breckenridge Mountain and getting cooler, if you can call temps in the 90's cooler, as I made my way up the 27 mile climb.

A Week in the Mountains

With the Everest Challenge being my next big objective this week's training plan was all uphill.  The week started with one of the steepest roads I've ever ridden a road bike on, Deertrail Road.

Breckenridge Mountain

I needed a break from all the racing the past few months so this weekend I'm home here in Bako and the sun is shining once again after last weekend when it felt like I was back in Ohio with the cloudy grey skies.  It's sad that I can't go even two days without sunny skies, but when you get used to it every day it feels odd to see clouds in the sky.  I wonder how I made it six years in Ohio where it seems like the sun shines just a few days each month:-)

SoCal TT Champs/Barry Wolfe GP

Friday it rained for the first time since February!  It was funny to see how people here in the desert reacted to it.  When you're not used to seeing rain it becomes quite an occasion when it does come.  I was hoping it would be in and out since the plans for the weekend included a full two days of racing starting with the SoCal TT Champs on Saturday and the Barry Wolfe GP on Sunday.